Two autorickshaws torched in suburban Mumbai

Two autorickshaws parked in a residential locality here were allegedly set on fire by some unidentified persons in the wee hours on Wednesday, police said.

Police, however, refused to associate the incident with the recent clashes targeting north Indians in the city.

The vehicles were lit while they were parked at BMC Colony in Anand Nagar of suburban Oshiwara at around 3 am today causing minor damage to the vehicles, a senior police officer said.

"A woman from a nearby building saw the flames and alerted the locals who doused the fire. Police was called at the spot later but nobody has seen the miscreants," said the officer.

He, however, denied involvement of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) activists in the incident. "MNS hardly has a presence in the locality. We suspect it has happened due to some internal rivalry," the officer said.

Congress spokesman Sanjay Nirupam, however, said that MNS activists were responsible for the incident.

"Raj is instigating people for doing such acts... I am going to meet the persons whose rickshaws have been targeted," Nirupam said.

Taxi drivers, food vendors and rail passengers hailing from north India have been allegedly targeted by MNS activists since Sunday following party chief Raj Thackeray's anti-north Indian remarks.

Over hundred people have so far been arrested for the violence and clashes between MNS and SP Samajwadi Party workers over the same issue.